The crafting of every Steiff piece starts in the cutting room. Here the separate body parts are cut and sewn. Sewing accounts for about 40% - almost half – of the work that goes into creating a Steiff Plush piece. Steiff is very careful about making sure that all of the pieces are crafted by Steiff artisans – using only simple sewing machines and hand stitching.
The next step is stuffing. Replicas of classic Steiff pieces are traditionally stuffed with wood shavings by hand. With other stuffing materials it is possible to use simple machines to do the job. After the piece is stuffed, Steiff artisans stitch it together – by hand.

Steiff refers to the next step as decorating. This is where the unique personality of each Steiff piece is born. Facial expressions are painted on with spray pistols and the eyes are drawn on by hand. Every nose and claw is hand-stitched.

After a check to ensure quality of the product, the famous Steiff button is fastened into the pieces ear and it’s ready for packing.

Trivia

It takes a full time employee a full 8 hour shift to hand stuff 3 Steiff pieces. If the piece is over 40 cm, German law forbids women to stuff them, and they must be stuffed by men.